Abstract

Extreme natural and man-made events can harm the road infrastructure facilities with substantial economic"br" damages. The research presented in this paper focuses on the quantification of the availability and safety of road"br" infrastructure during the occurrence of extreme events. It presents the first results of the implementation of"br" Resilience Engineering to road infrastructure. This work is carried out within the framework of the BMVI"br" Network of Experts of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure as part of the"br" research ‘Quantification and prognosis of the availability and safety of road infrastructure in extreme events’"br" which is a component of the topic ‘Increasing the reliability of transport infrastructures’ lead by the Federal"br" Highway Research Institute (BASt).

Abstract

One of the challenges in urban tunnelling projects is to guarantee that the infrastructure assets crossing or adjacent to the tunnel alignment and other new build elements are not affected by the construction activity. Radar Satellite Interferometry (InSAR) is a non-invasive surveying technique which provides millimetric deformation measurements of terrain structures over wide areas without any need to access site. This technique allows a comprehensive and periodic vision, with the same accuracy as manual levelling in cities for a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. ATLAS is the Sixense’s InSAR processing chain, aimed to monitor the different tunnelling activities phases: access shaft excavation, tunnel construction and settlement. This study focuses on real data obtained by Sixense during the monitoring of urban tunnel construction work in three major projects in London (UK) and Porto (Portugal), using a combination of technologies: InSAR for remote monitoring and two topographic instrumentation methods: Topographic Control Prisms through measurements with Robotic Total Station and Topographic Levelling. The methodology employed integrated InSAR to obtain surface deformation data across the tunnel influence zone and on-site instrumentation for detailed and precise measurements. Its implementation enabled continuous monitoring, revealing accurate and real-time deformation patterns near the tunnels. The results demonstrated a significant correlation between InSAR data and on-site measurements, validating the effectiveness of this combination.

Abstract

The construction time and cost of a rock tunnel project are highly dependent on the rock mass quality and encountered ground behaviour. In most rock tunnel projects, the knowledge about the ground conditions along the tunnel is limited, making it difficult to predict accurately the construction time and cost. The KTH model takes a probabilistic approach to address this problem; however, it does not account for the spatial variability of the ground conditions. This paper investigates an alternative probabilistic ground model to be used within the KTH model that enables accounting for the spatial variability through Markov random field theory. The new ground model employs a parametric approach to describe the properties of the Markov field, hence, enabling the simulation of the ground conditions with limited data, but does not consider the epistemic uncertainty in the model parameters. This will be the addressed in future research.

Abstract

The paper introduces the main concepts and criteria presented in the Guidelines on the Analysis, Conservation and Structural Restoration elaborated by the ICOMOS/ISCARSAH committee. The guidelines have been developed with the aim to provide guidance to experts and practitioners working in the study and conservation of structures or the architectural heritage. The guidelines are based on the ICOMOS Charter on the Principles for he Analysis, Conservation and Structural Restoration of Architectural Heritage elaborated by ISCARSAH and adopted by ICOMOS in 2003. The guidelines are intended to assist the multidisciplinary teams involved in the management of historical structures across all the stages of the study and operation, including the investigation and documentation works, the structural verification and the selection and design of appropriate minimum interventions.